Trapped

28.

I woke up when the carriage stopped and I slid across the floor and hit my back against the door. This meant that the carriage was parked somewhere steep causing gravity to pull me down. Then the doors were opened and I screamed when I fell out of the carriage and started rolling down a rocky hill that the carriage was parked on. I winced ever now and again when the sharp rocks dug into my exposed flesh.

The world was spinning as I kept rolling. I grabbed at everything I could to try and stop but nothing seemed to work. Then my front side slammed into something hard and I finally came to a stop, but I was in too much pain to care. I had been stopped by a large rock that was sticking up out of the hill and it winded me. I wheezed and coughed and pulled my face into a pained frown. Being winded felt like dying, I couldn't breathe and every time I tried to I would be in pain. Everything was out of focus and I couldn't concentrate on anything but the pain.

When I recovered I could feel that some people were dragging me up the hill by my arms and I was no longer on the boulder.

"Your attempt at escape has only gotten you more time with the lovely Withertooth," he said and laughed. I wanted to explain that I wasn't trying to escape but I couldn't speak. I wondered who this 'Withertooth' was, and then I replayed all the possibilities in my head. It had to be some kind of animal or maybe it's an old warlock with wrotten teeth.

When my vision was focused again I took in the scenery. There wasn't any grass for miles and the whole area was covered in sharp rocks and stones. It must have been at the coast of Florendale because I could hear the sound of waves crashing in the distance, but I couldn't see it. Once we were on top of the hill I could see the ocean and off the coast there was a small island. There was a very tall wall built around the Island and obviously it was there to keep Withertooth and his prisoners inside. There was a stone walkway that led to the island but it was cut off a few feet before the gate.

The gate was similar to a draw bridge and when we got to it the one guard took out a key to unlock a tiny box planted in the ground on my right hand side. The box had a small lever in it, almost like a light switch and he flipped it. The moment the switch was flipped the draw bridge started lowering to the ground before us.

"Is there one of those boxes inside that place?" I croaked and pointed at the entrance of the dungeon while carefully watching the guard to see him clipping the key onto his belt at his side.

"No, that would be too dangerous. Now stop asking questions and walk!" He said and took a musket out of his belt. Well there goes my escape plan, I said subconsciously. The guard pointed the musket at me and threatened to shoot me if I didn't go in. That made me wonder about how dangerous it must be in the dungeon if they won't even come in with me. I was in no mood to be shot so I didn't argue and I walked in. I calmed my nurves by reminding myself of all the dangers that I have been through already and it boosted my self-confidence. I had created this mess and I was certain that I would get myself out of it. I straightened my posture and walked beyond the very, very tall walls around the little island. Once I was on the other side the draw bridge was pulled back up and I was trapped inside. I looked around and saw nothing but a gigantic castle and many big boulders surrounding it.

I was about to laugh at the absurdity of my situation when I heard a loud ear-piercing roar echoing off of the walls. The roar was followed by many loud thumps that shook the earth below me and I ducked for cover behind a boulder in fear of the creature that could be making these noises.

The suspense didn't last long, because a few seconds after I hid myself a large mud-green dragon appeared from behind the castle. It was flaring it's nostrils, clearly smelling the scent of a newcomer but when I looked into it's eyes I knew that this creature was blind. It also had very sharp kanines that stuck out from its mouth, but they were skewed and browned and I came to the conclusion that this was none other than withertooth.